Family-to-Family

Share Your Bounty

Fully-Sponsored

Situated next door to the town where Family-to-Family started, Dobbs Ferry is a small New York village of 11,000 people that sits alongside the Hudson River, just north of New York City.

While much of Dobbs Ferry is a well-to-do bedroom suburb of Manhattan, about 600 moms, dads, kids, and seniors here live in profound poverty.

Local residents in the area sign up with us to provide Stop & Shop grocery gift cards for these Dobbs families in need, either by making a monthly donation to Family-to-Family that we use to purchase a grocery card, or by buying it themselves and dropping it at our office. Cards are distributed to the families each month through SPRING Community Partners, our Dobbs Ferry partner organization.

Unlike in the other communities served by F-to-F, in Dobbs Ferry the names of both the donors and the families in need are kept anonymous, to respect everyone’s privacy, since they may know each other. Each family in need is identified only by an alphabet letter. That means, for example, a sponsor will purchase a grocery gift card and put it in an envelope labeled “For Family S.”

And although we keep it anonymous, families are still sometimes finding a way to communicate… by sending a card or note with no names.

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Just 20 minutes north of Birmingham, the town of Brookside (population 1,363) is a small pocket of nature and beauty next to the big city. The town sits on six square miles along the bank of Five Mile Creek, hence the name Brookside. A former mining town, it grew up around the Brookside Coal Mine, which opened in 1886. Original settlers were eastern European immigrants who flocked there in order to work in the mines. When the mines closed in the 1920s, Brookside saw economic troubles that have persisted ever since.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2021-2022:

  • 28% of Brookside children lived below the federal poverty line
  • 20.4% of people were uninsured

Family-to-Family’s contact in Brookside is Kara Miller of the Boys and Girls Club of Brookside.  The club provides extensive after-school programs, including homework help and tutoring.  When the school year is over, the club runs summer programs to keep area kids busy, healthy, fit, and happy.

A large number of the children served by the Brookside Boys and Girls Club live in poverty, with an estimated 80% qualifying for free lunch at school.  Many are being raised by single mothers or grandparents, and live in public housing.

In Brookside, we work with the local Publix Super Market to provide monthly groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Liaison:
Kara Miller
Brookside Boys & Girls Club
4199 Municipal Drive
Brookside, AL 35036

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

First a center for colonists fighting the British in the Revolutionary War, and later a thriving manufacturing hub, the city of Worcester has been an important and symbolic site of America’s heritage for over 200 years. Like many New England cities, Worcester’s economy collapsed after the decline of U.S. manufacturing between 1950 and 1980, and although healthcare and biotechnology companies were brought in to expand the job base, poverty is still widespread.

Data: 2022 U.S. Census Bureau’s American

  • 37.6% of residents are unemployed
  • 31% of households have an income of under $35,000

Family-to-Family’s partner in Worcester is the Green Island Neighborhood Center.  Green Island houses a food pantry and after-school program as well as helps area residents with issues relating to food stamps, housing, employment and health services. Green Islands’ Program Director, Elizabeth Lopez and her staff identify and recommend families in need to our sponsorship program.

Sponsored families are provided with a monthly grocery store gift card to a local store, which is distributed to them at the Green Island Center.

Community Partner:
Elizabeth Lopez
Green Island Neighborhood Center
50 Canton St
Worcester, MA 01610

Data: U.S. Census Bureau Community Survey

Read more about Worcester’s hunger problem below.

1. “Hunger pains: Winter adds challenges to feeding those in need in Central Mass”

2. What Happened to Worcester?

3. Worcester on the Rise – Along with Poverty


Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Although Orlando brings to mind Disney stories, smiling children and summer vacations, the 2008 recession hit the city hard. The collapse of a hyper-inflated real estate market and a sharp downturn in tourism took their toll, with many residents of central Florida losing tourism related jobs. As the country and the state of Florida have rebounded since 2010, Orlando’s unemployment rate has dropped, but at least 350,000 Central Floridians remain mired in poverty, in large part because available jobs pay very low wages.  

According to 2022 data, in Orlando:

  • 32.3% of people are unemployed
  • 14.2% of people live below the federal poverty line

The working poor number is even bigger. A United Way study showed that 43% of households in Orlando’s Orange County report being unable to afford bare necessities, despite being employed. The median hourly wage in Florida is one of the country’s lowest.

Family-to-Family’s liaison in Orlando is the Jesus Loves You Outreach Ministry, led by its president and founder Pauline Jackson. Pauline opened her doors in 2002. A wife, grandmother and mother of four, she says of her service to others, “I had a rough life. But God came into my life. He saved me. This is my way to give back.” Pauline’s devotion helps hundreds of families in the greater Orlando area. The ministry opens its doors on Wednesdays to offer food, household items, baby supplies and clothing, currently serving anywhere from 70 to 110 families a week. She also runs school backpack and supply drives for low income children every summer as well as personal care item drives for the homeless. And with help from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, the Ministry also offers a children’s summer food program. On Thursday afternoons kids receive backpacks full of non-perishable foods to take home so they’ll have something to eat over the weekend.

Pauline identifies families in need for Family-to-Family’s sponsorship program and The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida provide groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Partner:
Pauline Jackson
Jesus Loves You Outreach Ministries
6111 Lost Tree Ct.
Orlando, Florida 32808

To learn more:

Data Sources: 2022 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Pembroke was the beginning. The community that inspired the founding of Family-to-Family in 2002 when it was featured in a front-page article in the New York Times, is:

  • Located in Kankakee County, 70 miles south of Chicago.
  • Populated by roughly 2200 residents, primarily African-American.
  • Lacking a supermarket, police force, barbershop, gas station, bookstore and pharmacy and has no bus or train connections.

Many of Pembroke’s roads are unpaved, just sand or gravel, and many homes are trailers or crumbling shacks with dirt floors and no running water. Some have tires sitting on top to keep a damaged roof from flying off, and many households have no telephone service. Until a credit union opened in 2007, there were no banks or financial institutions of any kind.

According to 2022 data, in Pembroke:

  • Median income of $41,250
  • 28.5% of households have an income under $25,000
  • 46.4% do not have a high school diploma

Family-to-Family works with Wilhelmina Gibbs of the Pembroke school district to serve our sponsored families in the Pembroke/St. Anne/Momence area. We partner with Meijer Stores in Bradley to provide groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Contact
Wilhelmina Gibbs
Lorenzo R. Smith School
4120 S. Wheeler Road
Hopkins Park, IL 60944

To learn more:

Data Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2022

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Located in Ashley County, just north of the Louisiana border, Montrose is a tiny town of  316 residents, two-thirds of whom are African-American. It’s rural, agricultural country and job opportunities are scarce. There are no supermarkets, libraries, barber shops or gas stations in town.

According to 2022 census data:

  • The median household income is $31,250
  • 95% of children under 18 live below the poverty line
  • 45.4% of people live below the poverty line
  • 94% of owner-occupied housing units are valued under 100k

churchThe Full Gospel Church Outreach Ministry, based in nearby Hamburg, is our local partner. The Ministry runs an emergency food pantry that helps about 300 families each month. The coordinator there — Ethel Woods, serves as our liaison, recommending families in need and distributing donated food. In addition to hunger relief, the Ministry has established a clothing assistance program, mentoring program to assist people leaving welfare (and those still receiving welfare), self-esteem workshops, an abstinence program for teens, and an abuse prevention program for troubled teens and families.

The Arkansas Foodbank Network provides groceries to the Full Gospel Church Outreach Ministry for our sponsored families.

Community Contact:
Ethel Woods
The Full Gospel Church Outreach Ministry
927 Hwy 82-B West
PO Box 164
Montrose, AR 71658

Data Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 American Community Survey

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!